Comments for http://makerjawn.org
Playing, Learning, and Making things light up in City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.Sat, 06 May 2017 14:09:45 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.11Comment on Words of Maker-Wisdom from Dr. Yasmin Kafai by Ella Trujillohttp://makerjawn.org/blog/2017/04/21/words-of-maker-wisdom-from-dr-yasmin-kafai/#comment-6450
Sat, 06 May 2017 14:09:45 +0000http://makerjawn.org/?p=3729#comment-6450Thanks for this, Paul! A lot of these have worked their way into programming at Kensington through trial and error over the past year. I started Teen Day Tuesday, which allows the teens to work on more complicated projects without the distractions of younger kids. I’ve found that not only can we work on more demanding things, but the teens are able to be more vulnerable and emotionally open with me. When the younger kids are around, they have to guard their work and it seems as if they put up a “cooler-than-you,” front.

I’ve also seen a lot of growth from kids if I set a celebratory event once a month, with projects building/culminating to that date. I think this allows for both a sense of progress and a sense of purpose. For example, we did Comic Con for the month of April — we had several comic workshops with outside comic artists. Kids started off with sketching out heroes and characters – then they drafted stories – then a few composed entire comics. It was awesome, and there were a few kids that got really into it. At the end of the month, we had a mini Comic Con with snacks and prizes and showcased everyone’s work on a wall. A few kids went around and interviewed everyone about their comics and what they thought of the process. I was so proud of them!

Glad to see some of these things that we’ve eventually reached through experimenting being backed up by Dr. Kafai!

]]>Comment on What Maker Jawn Could Be by Leslie Birchhttp://makerjawn.org/blog/2017/01/30/what-maker-jawn-could-be/#comment-4871
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 04:49:17 +0000http://makerjawn.org/?p=3602#comment-4871As someone that used to also work for Maker Jawn, I agree with what Goda has posted. I would just add that not only was the staff-to-student ratio difficult, but also the vast age ranges that were combined. Even attempting to make older students mentors for the younger ones was only partially successful. I’ve started to get involved with maker initiatives happening in schools now,, and it’s really nice to be able to match age/ability with the appropriate tools and learning style. It would be great if Maker Jawn could work in that way. I’ll just add that Maker Jawn offered great meetings for mentors to share projects, and it was a great learning experience–practically like being in a lab. Hoping the program continues to grow in this difficult time period.
]]>Comment on What Maker Jawn Could Be by Brandon Klevencehttp://makerjawn.org/blog/2017/01/30/what-maker-jawn-could-be/#comment-4389
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 19:14:21 +0000http://makerjawn.org/?p=3602#comment-4389Super grateful you’ve posted this. These ideas I remember as something that would be talked about at conferences, or in meetings with Strategic Initiatives folks, but were never made truly open to the world.
I really hope institutions take note of this as they develop or create similar spaces for people to teach, learn, and tinker in. Sustainability is key!
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